Over the past 30-45 days I am seeing a trend for families to gravitate towards traditional 3 bed 2 bath properties. They are looking to rent mid range homes that offer the basics--good roofs, functional central heat and air, reliable plumbing and decentyards. Money is more of an issue than ever. Now that water is being metered and tenants are becoming responsible for it--I am watching them carefully inspect every hose bib, sprinkler valve and faucet in the property. Good tenants will always need to rent your properties--the key now is to not only know your market and price the property properly, but keep up on the preventative maintenance items more than ever. Homepointe offers annual interior inspection that provides a 7 page detail of your property along with digital pictures for documentation.
James Safonov
We all know the Smart water meters were installed...it was just a matter of time till they were activated. As Homepointe pays recurring utility expenses at no cost for our clients, last week we started receiving the letters telling us that the water meters would be put into use starting January 01, 2010. This of course spurred countless phone calls and emails as to how best protect the interest of the property owners. What happens if tenants abuse the water and shower 20 times a day? What happens if a toilet runs continuously or a sprinkler valve leaks unnoticed? Will tenants turn off water circulation for pools or stop watering lawns to save money? Traditionally we encourage owners to absorb the cost of water, sewer and garbage. Now that water is metered the issue has gained importance. I typically tell the owner client their options:
1. Do nothing and continue to monitor the usage/billing.
2. Give the tenants a 30 change of terms to pay the water bill if in a month to month lease.
3. Generate a dollar amount that represents the average cost of the water bill--any amount billed over that amount is to be paid for by the tenant.
I'm interested to hear from others as to their experiences with the new trend of metered water.
James Safonov
This mandatory inspection of all rental units in the City has swept through Natomas and Del Paso Heights recently. From most reports all went well. Homepointe will act as the local contact representative for our clients by coordinating authorizations with the tenants, meeting the city inspector at the rental, making necessary repairs, billing the responsible party (if tenant caused the damage) and getting the property signed off. Where they give the ordinary landlord a 4 hour window to meet the inspector at the home they often work with our management company by giving us a 1 hour window--this saves us and the clients time and money.
James Safonov
If there is one thing I learned early on in renting and managing property is that consistency proves successful. We as managers need to be as dynamic as the people we encounter and properties we manage. What separates some of us in this industry is the intestinal fortitude to stay the course and be consistent. Consistent in our marketing and consistent in our management practices. We need to be especially consistent in our strategies and interactions with our landlord clients. They hire us to rent and manage their property by keeping their best interests in mind. Keeping their best interests means doing our job and not allowing anyone else--including the owner client--to move us off the right course in doing so.
I recently had an unfortunate experience with a returning client. 4+ years ago this client moved out of their primary residence and hired me to rent out their property. After 3 years of management they thanked me for finding such a wonderful tenant but now wanted to save money and manage the property them self. After more than 4 years of tenancy with only one resident the client calls to sign up again--the good tenant had purchased a home and moved. We met at the rental and went over the contract. We spoke about the same marketing strategies I intended to employ to find another qualified tenant. They agreed and the marketing began. Within a 2 week period I received several forwarded emails from the client from an ad they had previously placed for $100.00 less than my ad. These inquiries wanted me to show the home to them at odd hours and on very short notice. I responded to each of them with our company information and the prescheduled dates and times I was to be at the home--most were pleased with the responses and attended the showings. Others informed the owner I was unwilling to meet their needs. Inexplicably, the owner lost faith in my ability and gave me a five day deadline to rent the home or cancel the contract. I opted to immediately cancel the contract as I know my strategy to rent property works. I do not fully understand why they changed course so drastically but I do know the problem was not mine or my company's. In looking at the notes from the first time I rented their home--it took 27 days to rent their home. This time they gave me an ultimatum after 14 days. I never want to lose an account but this one I believe I am better off without.
Homepointe uses 12 or more websites, an insert in the Sacramento Bee, 24 hour voicemail + email and daily updated hand outs at all 3 offices to market our properties. We establish prescheduled open house showings 2-3 times per week for all our vacants. We certainly do make appointments as well when time permits--usually with 1-2 days notice. I manage to rent an average of 10 properties per month and company wide we average 50-65 per month.
James Safonov
Big winter storms like the one on our horizon is a good reminder to winterize your vacant rentals. Have roof gutters cleared, windows secured and water mains turned off to avoid unnecessary problems. Once the storms blow over it is always a good idea to walk the vacant properties to inspect for damage and of course chase off any squatters using the property as a safe haven. These are simple but important steps to protect your client's investment.
James Safonov
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Property Management Rentals and Maintenance in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, and El Dorado Counties from offices located in Sacramento, Roseville, and Orangevale, CA We manage residential and commercial.
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